Greek court charges more coast guard officers over 2023 migrant shipwreck, sources say

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By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS (Reuters) -A Greek prosecutor has extended charges to four more senior coast guard officers over one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest accidents, a 2023 shipwreck in which hundreds drowned off the southwestern town of Pylos, legal sources said on Thursday.

The charges follow an appeal by lawyers representing the victims, the sources told Reuters.

The shipwreck of the overloaded migrant boat Adriana in international waters on June 14, 2023, sent shockwaves across Europe. A Greek naval court is still investigating the circumstances around the incident.

Coast guard authorities have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the handling of the case.

ONLY 104 OF 750 PASSENGERS KNOWN TO HAVE SURVIVED

A coast guard vessel had been monitoring the boat for 15 hours before it capsized and sank. It had left Libya for Italy with an estimated 750 people on board. Only 104 of them are known to have survived.

In May, the naval court charged 17 coast guard officers on accusations ranging from obstructing transport to causing or helping cause a shipwreck and exposing individuals to mortal danger.

Lawyers representing the survivors and victims of the Pylos shipwreck, had welcomed the decision and the referral of the case into a main investigation on felony charges.

SURVIVORS AND VICTIMS FILED APPEAL

But they filed an appeal, requesting the initiation of criminal prosecution against four more officers, including the current chief of the Greek coast guard, saying that they were also involved in the handling of the incident, the sources said.

A coastguard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The prosecutor accepted their appeal bringing the total number of those indicted to 21. They were expected to be summoned by a judge to respond to the charges, the legal sources said.

(Editing by Conor Humphries)